PYC2015 – Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) – Superficial Overview



PYC2015 – Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) – Superficial Overview

Background (p49 – Textbook)

Freud’s ‘depth psychology/psychoanalysis’ (developed over nearly 50 years), is considered to be one of the most comprehensive theories, regarding the unconscious mind, of all time, concerning human functioning, i.e. a) Personality development and b) Functioning of the psyche (human mind). Freud, a medical doctor and psychiatrist, based his findings predominantly on the biology of the human body. In addition, his theories were also based on the prevalent science of his Victorian time, being physics, and what is termed as being ‘mechanistic’.

Freud’s psychosexual and psyche theories came to being through three main elements/contexts. 1 – The social/scientific Victorian era in which he lived and his concept of female sexual suppression, 2 – His own personal experiences of cancer, WW1 atrocities and persecution of the Jews (he was Jewish), and 3 - Relationships with his parents; hence his Life/Death Drives suppositions.

Regarding drives, and development of his psychosexual developmental theory, Freud felt that because he enjoyed a close relationship with his own mother, boys naturally felt sexual feelings for their mothers (termed the ‘Oedipus complex’) and therefore, girls must feel sexual feelings for their fathers (termed as the Electra Complex). These findings stipulated again his theory concerning psychological development stemming from the biological body, and therefore, all pathological disorders were a result of biological drive/energy dissatisfaction from within the physical body.

The view of the person underlying the theory (P51 – book)

The three main assumptions underlying Freud’s theory are – 1. Mechanistic Assumption – in line with the science of the time concerning physical principles of energy conservation and transformation which is valid in human functioning. 2. Psychosocial Conflict assumption – there is conflict between demands of aggressive (sexual) drives versus the demands of society (hence: Freud’s theory that the EGO is the ‘piggy in the middle’ keeping the ID and the SUPERGO happy at the same time). 3. Biological and Psychic Determinism assumption – Freud said that human behaviour originates from bodily needs and as far as Psych. Determinism is concerned, this is where he wrote regarding the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO.

The structure of the personality and levels of consciousness (p53)

The ID (primate drive desire, to eat, sexual desire etc) resides predominantly in the unconscious, but sometimes also in the pre-conscious. It is the unconscious which contains respressed/forbidden feelings, which causes anxiety/emotional pain. The pre-conscious (information which can be recalled without much effort) does not cause anxiety.

The ID is the primitive (biological) drive component, from where the Life/Death drives (needs fulfillment) evolve. The ID is developed at birth. It can not think and only considers its immediate satisfactions and needs.

The EGO (policeman to the ID, protecting it from consequences of its immediate needs gratifications), resides mostly in the preconscious, but also on all three levels of consciousness (+ conscious and unconscious). The conscious comprises individual awareness of cognitions.

The Ego is in contact with society on two levels, i.e. The Secondary Process (evaluates before taking action) and The Reality Principle, called Cathexis (will make contact with conscious and pre-conscious cognitions, for rationale on a situation). The Ego develops in the first year of life and is constantly changing throughout life. ☻My question – is this where maturity levels come into play as a person ages?

The superego resides on all levels of consciousness. Development of the superego helps individuals address contact with society further, by addressing moral codes. The S.Ego pressures the Ego to obey by the rules of conduct and keep drives in the unconscious and requires most energy from the body (mechanistic scientific view) to do so. As far as Freud is concerned, psychological problems originates from the Ego allowing conflict to escalate between the ID and the S.Ego, where drives need to be met and addressing the moral principle of the S.Ego, and what he called an Anticathexis (p56).

The dynamics of the personality (p56)

To understand how the various personality parts work together, one must know Freud’s views concerning Mechanism, energy transformation and conservation, and it is to this end that the concept of motivation/drive theory is discussed. ‘Energy’ (wishes, guilt feelings) is iether acted upon or not, according to one’s need to satisfy sexual needs/drive being the main force in human functioning, and one’s motivation has a knock on effect on behaviour.

Still on the subject of motivation, energy, i.e. drives of the ID, is transformed/converted positively or negatively, which determines whether conflict is managed (by the Ego, between the ID and the Superego), effectively or not. Writings are scarce on the subject of energy conservation, other than Freud stating his acceptance that wishes and guilt feelings can not be harboured, or disappear of their own accord. ☻My thought: A connection could be made where in the textbook, it is stated in a ‘read only’ section (p42) how Freud was impressed by Josef Breuer’s findings concerning his notion of ‘…talking with his patients, where they would experience a catharsis, where the symptoms would disappear’.

General characteristics of drives (p58)

Firstly, a drive requires a source, which comes from the organ which requires satisfying. E.G. The hunger drive originates in the stomach. Secondly, the drive requires impetus, i.e. the intensity of the drive. Thirdly, the drive contains a subjective goal (i.e. motivation). Lastly, a drive requires an object for satisfaction, e.g. a sex addict needs a woman.

Types of drives

One’s drives are either life drives (individual wants to preserve life) or death drives (individual anticipates death either in self or others - ☻my thought -with suicide, addictions etc?).

Life drives are considered to reside in the ego and concerns the primary needs of survival . This said, sexual drives, which Freud does not consider to be a part of the life drive, and exists for ‘survival of the species’, he noted contributes to mental disturbance and it is its erotic nature which requires satisfaction as its primary focus and the drive does not necessarily exist as a means to keep the human race alive. Therefore, a baby sucking at the breast is displaying its erotic nature.

The death drive, which comprises the individual dead cell matter, has the notions to murder or commit suicide.

Anxiety (p61 - Textbook)

People become anxious due to the ID’s forbidden drives fighting against the Superego’s moral codes, without the Ego managing the fight effectively.

There are various forms of anxiety, being Reality Anxiety, Neurotic Anxiety and Moral Anxiety.

Reality Anxiety originates from one’s fears of the external environment (☻fear of crime etc). The sufferer may find relief in fighting off the danger or fleeing from the danger.

Neurotic Anxiety, Freud noted results from a surplus of drive energy, which results in discomfort and pain and psychological disturbances. The Ego is in grave conflict with and is being punished by the ID (for non-fulfillment of drives) and the Superego (for not abiding by moral codes) at this point.

Although Freud stated how it is difficult to differentiate between neurotic anx. and moral anxiety, he suggested that moral anxiety is impossible for the individual to deal with. The person will use defence mechanisms and will have dreams as a means of expression of their forbidden notions (from the ID’s drives and SuperEgo’s morals). Both the neurotic and moral anx. reside completely in the unconscious and both could lead to psyh. Disturbances.

As stated, the strategies used by people to deal with anxiety (p62) consist of dreaming, defence mechanisms and in addition, performance errors

In therapy with his clients, Freud used the concept of ‘Free Association’ with his clients, where the client would write words on paper which came to mind, following a particular dream, in order to be able to understand their unconscious desires. Freud stated that one’s reason for dreaming was due to, like all behaviour, a force in one’s psyche. Dreams comprise two elements, being the manifest (dream content) and the latent (symbolic).

The term ‘Defence Mechanisms’ enriched psychological terminology, which is used today. The terminologies of rationalization, projection, regression, fixation, projection, reaction formation, identification, displacement and sublimation are used by the Ego as a means of managing conflict.

Performance Errors/Parapraxes (p71)

Freud contested that, also in dealing with one’s anxieties, one has a ‘slip of the tongue’ (or ‘Freudian slip’), e.g. calling a person we know by another name. A paraprax is also considered to be where a person might hit themselves accidentally with a hammer. Freud states that it is an an accident but the manifestation of guilty feelings in the Ego.

The development of the personality. (p73)

Freud based his theory concerning personality development on his psychosexual theory. The personality develops through sexual satisfaction of each stage, ☻notice only up to puberty! At birth, the baby is in the Oral stage, where sexual satisfaction is derived through the mouth.

The Anal stage (2nd year of life) is concerned with satisfaction through the anus and sexual pleasure is derived both from excretion and/or retainment.

Between the ages of 3-5/6, one is in the Phallic stage of development, where children wish to possess their parent of the opposite sex. For example, a boy will reject his father (Oedipus complex), in favour of his deep-rooted sexual desire for his mother and vice versa for a girl (Electra complex).

A boy = castration anxiety. A girl = penis envy

Aged between 6 – start of puberty, (The latent stage) Freud states that little sexual energy takes place within the body and the child will want to renew a relationship with the parent of the same again

The gential stage – At puberty, physiological change marries with a mass of sexual energy for the adolescent. The oral, anal, phallic and latent stages all accumulate, giving rise to the child’s first experiences of internal conflict, and development of anxiety.

Optimal Development (p77)

Freud wrote very little concerning optimal development, other than to say that psychologically healthy people are able to resolve internal conflict better than the non-healthy. Freud’s concern with conflict management comprises a notion of what he called ‘genital character’ as a form of personality type and offered various perspectives:-

1. Developmental viewpoint - in order to develop optimally, development without fixation (i.e the psyche remains locked at an age of trauma and can not move on) in a particular phase is necessary for successful optimal development. ☻ In other words, a person who has his/her needs met throughout all stages will not ‘fixate’ and become a fully functioning being in adult life – bully for them, lol!!

2 Structural viewpoint – A strong Ego and not overly strict Superego is necessary for optimal development.

3. Dynamic viewpoint – The use of the most effective defence mechanism (sublimation) is necessary for optimal development

Views on psychopathology

Freud stated that ironically, ‘all behaviour is normal, except that abnormal behaviour is exaggerated’ and disorders are due to an imbalance in structure (see point 2 above). Therefore, (historical causes) of psych. imbalances are due to weak ego’s, phases of fixation and a strict superego.

Contemporary causes of psych. disorders are explained as imbalances between ID and S.Ego , which causes the person to handle conflict pathologically and as one tries to escape conflict, a neurosis (disorder) develops

Psychotherapy (p82)

Freud stated that there are various goals to be achieved by a psychoanalyst. In the immediate term, the therapist wants to discover causes of patient problems and help patient deal with confict. In the long term, patient needs to gain drive satisfaction and experience as little guilt as possible (ID v SuperEgo).

Freud founded specialised therapeutic techniques which are still used today, being 1. Dream Analysis, 2. Identify patient resistance to being aware of unconscious and 3, Transference.

Freud used the Free Association technique in dream analysis. Concerning patient resistance, the patient might be late for appointments for example, + others. Regarding Transference, which is one of the core processes (and goal) for psychoanalyis, the patient will develop positive or negative feelings for therapist, which is lived out in real time (e.g. might fall in love with therapist). The patient uses the therapist as a substitution for someone from the patients past

Freud wrote that merely recalling memories from the unconscious from the past is not enough for healing. The patient must relive the experience in the present. This is called Transference Neurosis.

The interpretation and handling of aggression (p87)

Freud stated that one’s aggression and violence exists in the death drive, and one simply ‘can not do anything about it’, and says “there is no use trying to get rid of man’s aggressive behaviour”. Explanation is offered re violence…

A relaxation in societies moral codes are necessary to be able to counteract needs of the Superego. Freud also stated how one naturally has high levels of aggressive drive energy (in the ID) and asked why one would want to place oneself in places of violence.

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